Banking on better employee engagement

This client needed a better way to engage, inform, and support over 200,000 employees around the world. Communications between the organization and employees were fragmented, confusing, and limited.

Employees were overwhelmed by too many e-mails, internal Web sites, and irrelevant content. Newsletters and press releases were often unread. At the same time, employees had difficulty finding coworkers on company directories and staying up to date on industry news, policies, and regulations.

As a result, many employees used unauthorized apps and workarounds to access information, keep in touch with colleagues, and respond to customer requests.

Relevant, timely, and accessible information benefits the company, employees, and customers. With a newly designed system, the client can tailor external and internal content, news, updates, and push notifications to employees based on their unique needs.

Employees receive the information though a feature-rich employee portal that also enables conversations with team members and customers in a secure chat-like environment. Because the employees have pertinent data and tools at their fingertips they are better prepared to serve customers with accuracy and speed.

KPMG designed this interactive experience to work across desktops, tablets, and mobile phones. Employees are free to take this powerful portal with them whether it’s at their desk or with a customer.

We conducted a global sampling of several hundred employees in Europe, North America, and Asia. Employees were selected across business lines, geographies, and seniority. We conducted interviews and workshops to understand the employee issues and concerns. We watched how they did their jobs and how they used existing tools.

Based on this field research, we identified several key drivers to increase engagement and enablement, presented in terms of a range of employee personas. Based on this research and analysis, we then designed an interactive employee portal to increase employee engagement and deliver added business value in terms of increased productivity, better internal communications, and improved customer service.

Without the right tools, millennials will find hacks and workarounds

Digital natives are going to be digital, so give them tools that are flexible, mobile, feature rich, and easy to use.

Fill the digital divide before your business units make it wider

In some cases, business units will use funding to build their own tools and portals, creating inconsistencies and disconnects across the organization. Portals should be consistent and coordinated across business units.

Think globally, design locally

A consistent, standardized approach to communications is critical but remember to fully address local differences in culture, language, and ways of doing business. A portal that works well in China might not be appropriate for employees in London.